Missing
by Mulderette
Summary: Gibbs and his team search for Tony after his undercover assignment is compromised.


AN: For those of you reading "Dinner Interrupted", I'm still working on it - just reached a bit of a snag and these one shots have been coming much easier to me. In any case, I will try to have the next chapter of that out very soon. Thanks for your patience. Hope you like this one :)

xxxxx

"Where the hell could he be?" Gibbs shouted at McGee who was the closest target.

"I don't know boss…he should be somewhere around here though," McGee answered nervously. They had originally gotten a tracking signal from the GPS locater device in Tony's watch, but for some reason they had lost it and had not been able to regain the signal.

"He may have been moved," Ziva stated. "We do not know for certain that he is here."

"Well we don't know that he isn't either." Gibbs stated, glaring at her. "We will search every inch of this place until we know whether he is here or not."

"Of course, Gibbs," she replied. She wanted to find Tony as much as he did. She just hoped he was alive when they found him. Unfortunately, it did not look good. It was very probable the perpetrators had just killed him and dumped his body in the woods.

Gibbs grumbled as he trudged through the wooded area. Just the fact that DiNozzo had been brought way out here did not bode well for his senior field agent. Damn Vance and this undercover assignment. Gibbs' gut had warned him against it from the beginning, but Vance had been insistent and Tony had been eager. It had all been going okay until just a few hours ago. Tony had called him and given the code word which meant his cover had been blown. That was all he had been able to say before the connection had ended abruptly.

xxxxx

The first thing he noted as he struggled back to consciousness was a headache of massive proportions. Tony opened his eyes, but basically there was no difference at all in what he could see when they were open versus when they were shut. "Damn…" He wasn't sure if he was blind or if he was just in a pitch black place. He closed his eyes again, wishing he could rub his aching head, but his hands were tightly bound behind him. He had no leeway to even try to get loose. He struggled to remember what had happened, but he was confused and his head was throbbing. He couldn't remember a thing. This wasn't good at all. Gibbs was going to kill him.

He suddenly felt some kind of a small animal move against his hip and he panicked as he tried to back away from it. It was then that he discovered his leg was pinned under some rocks and he couldn't move. "Get away from me," he said loudly. He struggled to see through the darkness, but couldn't make out a thing. All he could think was that it was a rat and those creeped him out big time, not to mention, the nasty little diseases they could carry. After his bout with the plague, he didn't like to take any chances. The tiny animal suddenly jumped on his thigh and mewed. Tony breathed a sign of relief. It wasn't a rat after all, just a kitten or a very small cat.

"How did you get here?" he asked softly. Now that he knew it wasn't a rat, he was actually glad to have some company. It sure beat being alone in this place, which he finally had established was some kind of a cave. The kitten settled down on his lap and began to purr. "Don't know what you're so happy about, kitty. I don't think this is a very good situation for either of us." He wished he could pat it, but had to settle for it just nestling against him. Overcome with drowsiness and the pounding in his head, Tony closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

xxxxx

"Damn…" Gibbs paled as he stared into the murky waters of the small pond with a horrible feeling of foreboding.

"Do you think…" McGee started.

"I don't know what to think, McGee!" Gibbs turned on the young field agent, his eyes icy cold with fury.

McGee and Ziva exchanged glances as Gibbs ran his hand through his hair. "Sorry, McGee," he muttered. He needed to stay on top of things and just because he was worried about DiNozzo was no reason to turn on his agents who were doing everything in their power to help find him. "Why don't you and Ziva start walking that way to look for prints around the pond. I'll go this way and we'll meet over there on the other side." It wasn't a very large body of water and he figured it would only take 20 minutes or so to get to the other side. The ground around the pond was soft and parts of it muddy. If Tony had walked or had been dragged to the edge, it would be obvious. Gibbs was hoping and praying they wouldn't find any prints. He couldn't bear the thought of his agent being submerged, lifeless in that cold, dark water…

xxxxx

Tony groaned softly as he awakened once again. The kitten stood up and then lied back down again and Tony couldn't help but feel relieved that it was still there. His confusion was beginning to clear and he was starting to remember what had happened to him. He had been sitting in a bar waiting to do a drug deal with a petty officer. At that point, two goons had come in and had begun walking in his direction. Tony had nonchalantly gotten up and headed toward the exit and the two men had quickly followed. Knowing he was in trouble, he had only managed to hit Gibbs' speed dial number and blurt out the code word before being tackled from behind and everything had gone black. When he had awoken, he had found himself bound and alone in a cave. He hadn't been too far inside though and could see daylight streaming in through the opening. Just as he had struggled to his feet to make his escape, an explosion had rocked the cave and his whole world had gone dark once more.

He shuddered as the reality of the situation began to sink in and he made a mental checklist of the things that were not in his favor. One, he was trapped in a cave. Two, it was cold and damp, which he knew wasn't good for his lungs. Three, he was unsure of how much air there was. Four, he had no idea if Gibbs and the team were anywhere close to finding him.

"Hey kitty…I'll make you a deal…if we get out of this mess, I'll take you home. I think you'd like living with me. Might not be the fanciest place in the world, but it's definitely a lot nicer than this place."

He closed his eyes again and started drifting off, memories of another small animal coming back to him…

_It was the summer after his mom had died. Camp wasn't going to begin for two weeks and he had spent long, lonely days wandering around the estate. His father didn't allow him to have anyone over to play, nor was he allowed to go to anyone else's house. He could often hear the voices of children laughing and playing in the distance. Many times, Tony would just sit on the grass with tears streaming down his cheeks, desperately wishing he could go and play with them and be like other kids. It was on one particularly endless day when the dog had made its appearance. A scraggly little brown mongrel with floppy ears, Tony had immediately fallen in love with him. _

"_I'm going to call you Buster," the little boy had said happily as he bathed the dog with the garden hose. For the next two days, the two were inseparable. Now when Tony ran through the grounds, he had a companion. He taught Buster how to play fetch and made him up a little bed in the tool shed behind the house. The members of the household staff were aware of Tony's new pet and eagerly slipped him leftovers to feed him. Most of them felt sorry for the lonely DiNozzo child and thought his father treated him abominably. _

_It was the third day after Tony had found the dog and he was walking through the gardens with Buster at his heels. He was worried about what would happen to the dog while he was away at camp. "I wish I could take you with me, Buster," he said. "But they don't allow dogs at camp." It was an impossible dilemma for the youngster and he was so intent on trying to figure it out that he never noticed the imposing shadow standing over him until it was too late._

"_Anthony DiNozzo," his father bellowed. "What is the meaning of this?!"_

_Terror-stricken, Tony stared up into the furious eyes of his father. "Th…this is Buster," the child stammered. "He's my dog." _

"_I don't remember giving you permission for a dog!" Angry beyond reason, DiNozzo Sr. struck his son hard across the face, causing him to fall to the ground. Buster had then run to Tony's side and had started growling at the man who was posing a threat. The man had kicked the dog viciously, causing it to run off whimpering. _

"_Buster," Tony had sobbed as his father grabbed him by his arm and yanked him off the ground. _

"_DiNozzos do not cry!" DiNozzo Sr. shouted as he shook Tony. "Do you understand?"_

"_Yes…yes I understand," Tony had sniffled as he forced himself to stop crying, knowing the punishment would be much worse if he did not. _

"_If I ever see that dog on our grounds again, we will take it to a shelter and you will watch as they put him to sleep," DiNozzo Sr. stated ominously and the terrified boy had no doubt that his father would carry out his threat. He prayed that Buster would never return and only wished that he could run away as well..._

"Lucky for him, Buster never came back. Honestly, and no offence to you, I've always been more of a dog person," Tony admitted to the kitten who he was pretty sure had fallen asleep. "But it's pretty hard to keep a dog when you're a federal agent. We have to go away a lot and it wouldn't really be fair. I've never really ever thought about getting a cat, but as long as you behave yourself, it could probably work out. There's a little girl in my building. She has a cat. I could pay her to feed you and stuff if I had to go away. Might not be ideal, but it's probably better for you than living out here."

He sighed as he leaned his head back against the cold, cave wall. He couldn't believe he was in this situation, alone in a cave, talking to a cat. "Where are you, boss?" he said as he started to shiver. "Please hurry up and get us out of here."

xxxxx

Gibbs and his team breathed a sigh of relief as they met up at the other side of the pond and not a sign had been found by any of them that anything amiss had occurred at the water's edge.

"Where to now, boss?" McGee asked.

Gibbs hesitated as he pondered their next move. It was getting late and they only had another couple of hours before nightfall. Their chances of finding Tony alive would significantly decrease if they did not find him soon. It was already growing cold and the nighttime temperatures would be frigid. His agent could be in considerable trouble, especially if he was hurt.

"Let me check in with the others and see if they've found anything," Gibbs stated as he grabbed for his radio. He knew that he would have been contacted if they had found Tony, but frankly he just needed something to do while he gathered his thoughts and tried to figure out where to go next.

As Gibbs talked on the radio, McGee decided to scout ahead a little bit. It was then that he saw it, off to west, a cave with the entrance all blocked and rocks scattered around everywhere on the ground. It almost looked like it had been somehow blown up. "Hey boss, over here," he called to Gibbs as he started trotting in the direction of the cave and Gibbs and Ziva followed.

"What have you got, Tim?" Gibbs asked as he caught up to his young agent.

"Cave, boss," McGee said pointing.

They arrived at the cave and stood examining it. "Looks like there was some kind of an explosion or something, don't you think, boss?" McGee asked.

"I think you're right, McGee," Gibbs nodded. He walked up and put his face close to the crumbled rocks. "DiNozzo! Can you hear me?!"

Inside the cave, Tony was once again asleep.

"DiNozzo!"

"Yeah, boss?" Tony mumbled as he shifted his position, trying to get comfortable. His arms were killing him and he thought his ankle might be broken or was at least badly bruised.

"Tony can you hear us?"

"I hear you, McGoo." Tony yawned, still half asleep.

"DiNozzo!"

Gibbs' voice finally broke through and Tony forced himself completely awake.

"Gibbs!" he tried to call out, but his voice was hoarse and he had to try again. "GIBBS!"

"Did you hear that?" Gibbs asked as he looked at McGee.

McGee shook his head. "I didn't hear anything."

"I'm pretty sure that was Tony," Gibbs said before calling out again. "DiNozzo? Are you in there?"

"I'm here, boss," came the faint cry from inside the cave.

"I heard him that time." McGee grinned at Gibbs who returned the smile and grasped his radio once more.

"We've found him," Gibbs said, the relief evident in his tone. "He's in a sealed up cave. We're going to need some manpower and equipment to get him out of there."

After he had given their coordinates and clicked off the radio, Gibbs once again called to his senior field agent. "Tony? Are you hurt?"

"Nothing that bad," Tony called back. "Probably a concussion and my leg is trapped underneath some rocks!"

"We're gonna get you out of there. Just hang in there DiNozzo."

"Don't really have much of a choice, do we, kitty," Tony said as he breathed a sign of relief. Gibbs had come. They would be getting out of there very soon.

xxxxx

It took another three hours before they broke through and were finally at Tony's side. Rescue personnel immediately set out to release Tony's leg.

"Hey, DiNozzo, how are you doing?" Gibbs asked as he squatted down next to his agent. Tony's face was dotted with cuts and bruises and he had a bad gash on his head, but aside from that he wasn't looking too bad, considering the circumstances.

"I'm okay…hey boss, can you untie me, please?" Tony grimaced as he leaned forward and the kitten jumped off his lap.

"Who's your friend?" Gibbs asked as he deftly started to untie the rope around Tony's wrists.

"That's Buster, boss," Tony said with a grin as he caught his first glimpse of the kitten. It was a cute little thing, gray and white with blue eyes. "Hey boss, he has your eyes."

"How do you know it's a he, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, watching as one of the paramedics began taking Tony's blood pressure.

"I can just tell, boss," Tony replied. After the blood pressure cuff was removed, he stretched his arms out in front of him, relieved to finally be able to move them again. The kitten was walking around skittishly, evidently frightened by all the men who had suddenly invaded their space. "Can you get him for me?"

Gibbs rolled his eyes in mock exasperation as he reached for the kitten and dropped him into Tony's hands. "There you go, DiNozzo. You're a father."

"Thanks, boss," Tony said as he cuddled the kitten against his chest. "I owe this little guy. He helped me feel not so alone…"

"We've got to get you to the hospital, Mr. DiNozzo," one of the paramedics stated. "I'm afraid you're not going to be able to bring your kitten with you."

"Boss?" Tony turned pleading eyes towards Gibbs. He was pretty sure Gibbs wouldn't refuse him anything after he'd been so worried about him. "Can you take care of him for me?"

"I'll have McGee bring him to Abby for now," Gibbs said with a sigh as he took the kitten back from Tony. "Then I'll take him to my house after I make sure everything's okay with you." The paramedics had put Tony's leg into an immobilizer and Gibbs knew that once DiNozzo was released from the hospital, he wouldn't have just one house guest, but two. He secretly liked having Tony stay with him. He just wasn't sure about his furry, little friend. Oh well, it was a small price to pay for Tony's safety. He was just very thankful that his agent was okay.


End file.
